Table of contents

SWINESHEAD

Swineshead was formerly a detached part of
Huntingdonshire, to which county historically it
belongs, but in 1888 it was transferred to Bedfordshire.

There are 1,353½ acres in the parish. The soil is
loam and gravel, and the subsoil mainly blue galt. The
chief crops grown are wheat, barley, beans and peas.
The surface is undulating and is between 139 and
236 ft. above Ordnance datum, the village itself standing at about 155 ft.

The parish is well wooded, Swineshead and Spanoak
Woods in the northern portion covering a considerable
area. There is also a small wood called Tarbags in
the south-east, forming a part of Melchbourne Park.

The village is in the middle of the parish and the
houses of which it consists are mostly old, the Three
Horseshoes Inn dating from the early 17th century.
The cottages are of brick and timber, with tiled and
thatched roofs. The present Rectory, a modern
building, is on the south of the road as it enters the
village from the west. The former Rectory, now used
as a farmhouse, is an ancient plastered building of
brick and timber opposite the church. When it was
undergoing restoration in 1846 a copy of the Solemn
League and Covenant (signed by the then rector of
Swineshead) was discovered in the roof, where perhaps
it may have been hidden by the cautious rector of the
time. (fn. 1)

The Manor Farm is new, but in a field adjacent is a
16th-century brick building, now converted into
cottages, with traces of. a moat. There is another moat
¼ mile north of the church. (fn. 2)

Manor

In 1086 the men of Huntingdonshire
swore that King Edward gave SWINESHEAD to Earl Siward of Northumbria
(c. 1055) with sake and soke, 'save that (the men)
paid geld in the hundred and went against the enemy
with them.' This entry is of high importance, for it
suggests that the men of an immunist would normally
pay their geld in his manor as well as follow his banner
to the fyrd. Instead of passing to Waltheof son of
Siward, it would seem that
this property became annexed
as sokeland to Earl Harold's
manor of Kimbolton, and in
1086 3½ hides were held of
that soke, then in the possession of William de Warenne,
by a certain Eustace, who is
probably the well-known
Sheriff of Huntingdonshire. (fn. 4)

Bohun of Hereford. Azure a bend argent cotised or between six lions or.

Eustace the Sheriff also
held, but in chief of the king,
another half hide of sokeland
in Swineshead (fn. 5) formerly held
by Fursa. His successors, the
Lovetots, however, held nothing in Swineshead. The
smaller holding disappears as a separate unit and was
probably merged in the Warennes' manor. (fn. 6) Swineshead continued to form part of the honour of Kimbolton (q.v.), its overlordship consequently passing in
1236 to Humphrey de Bohun, Earl of Hereford and
Essex. (fn. 7) In 1293, in consequence of the outlawry of the
sub-tenant in the previous year, the manor escheated
to another Earl Humphrey, (fn. 8) who held it in demesne.

No sub-tenant under Eustace appears in Domesday
Book as holding the 3½ hides, but his half hide was
held in demesne by one Ralph, (fn. 9) who may well have
been the ancestor of a family, taking their name from
the manor, who held it in demesne as one knight's fee
in the 12th and 13th centuries. The first known
tenant was Sir Ralph de Swineshead, who held Swineshead in 1166, (fn. 10) and he may be identified as the benefactor of Chicksand Priory (Beds), whose grants in
Swineshead were confirmed to the priory by Henry II,
between 1163 and 1179. (fn. 11) His
son and heir Walter was
associated with him in his
charters and was probably
identical with the Walter who
appears amongst the forest
trespassers in 1176. (fn. 12) He or
a succeeding Sir Walter de
Swineshead appears amongst
the county knights summoned
for a grand assize in 1207 and
1208. (fn. 13) The next tenant was
apparently Ralph de Swineshead, mentioned in 1230, (fn. 14)
whose son and heir Walter
confirmed various benefactions
of land and wood in his fee, made in 1236 by his tenants
to St. Mary's Priory, Huntingdon. (fn. 15) He seems to
have been living in 1256. (fn. 16) His widow Joan gave up
her rights of dower in the lands of St. Mary's Priory
and his son and heir Ralph confirmed the grants. (fn. 17)
This Sir Ralph de Swineshead was living in 1272, (fn. 18)
but he died before 1276, when his son and heir
Walter was a minor, the wardship of whose lands and
marriage belonged to his overlord, the Earl of Hereford and Essex. (fn. 19) The Earl demised the wardship
to Geoffrey de Skistington (Skeffington), who then
granted it to Sir Ralph's widow Isabel de 'Erthedekene.' She in turn sold the wardship to Sir William
de Castre for 4 years, presumably until the end of
Walter's minority, and also included her dower and
all the goods and chattels in the manor in the sale. (fn. 20)
The Swineshead family had connections with Ireland, (fn. 21) where Isabel and her son seem to have gone. (fn. 22)
Isabel, however, retained her dower in Swineshead
and had a lawsuit with other tenants of the manor in
1289. (fn. 23) Her second husband may have been the
William le 'Arcedekne' who was Walter's attorney
in Ireland in 1291. (fn. 24) She was then returning to Ireland, but Walter remained in England and apparently
died soon afterwards. Before 1294 his widow Emma
had married Michael, son of John de Hibernia, and they
gave up her dower in Swineshead to their overlord. (fn. 25)
Walter's successor was Robert de Swineshead, perhaps
his brother, though his exact relationship does not
appear, but in 1292 he was outlawed for felony and
the manor was taken into the king's hands for a year
and a day. (fn. 26) At the end of this time it was restored
to his overlord, the Earl of Hereford and Essex, who
held it in demesne. (fn. 27) In 1294 the Earl, on his
departure for Gascony on the king's service, granted
it (here assessed at 2 carucates) for life to Bartholomew
de Enfield, who was accompanying him. (fn. 28)

Swineshead. Gules three boars' beads argent cut off at the neck and set fessewise.

Bohun of Northampton. Azure a bend argent cotised or between six lions or with three molets gules on the bend.

The reversion of the manor
was conveyed in 1315 by the
said Humphrey to his son
William de Bohun, afterwards
Earl of Northampton, (fn. 29) who
granted it for life to Sir Adam
de Sweneburn in 1345; (fn. 30) on
William's death in 1360 it
reverted under the terms of
the grant to his brother
Humphrey, who died the
next year. (fn. 31) The manor has
since followed the descent
of Kimbolton (q.v.), being
granted with it in 1615 (fn. 32) to
Sir Henry Montagu, afterwards Earl of Manchester,
and it has remained in the possession of the Dukes of
Manchester to the present day.

Montagu. Quarterly: 1 and 4, Argent a fesse indented of three fusils gules in a border sable; 2 and 3, Or an eagle vert.

In the 12th century Ralph
de Swineshead and his son
and heir Walter granted the
chapel of St. John of Swineshead and a mill there to the
Gilbertine priory at Chicksand (Beds). His charter was
confirmed by Henry II, between 1163 and 1179, and was
produced by the prior of
Chicksand in a lawsuit in
1403 as to the taxation due
from the temporalities of his
house. (fn. 33) The chapel apparently
had disappeared by 1279, when
the priory held 80 acres of arable and 4 acres of pasture. (fn. 34) In 1535 its possessions were valued at 30s.
a year. (fn. 35) In 1236 Nicholas Lenfant or Le Child of
Swineshead gave all his lands and tenements there to
the Priory of St. Mary, Huntingdon, to hold of him
by the service of giving a pair of spurs yearly. (fn. 36) The
grant was confirmed by Walter, son and heir of Ralph
Swineshead, who made additional grants of common
rights, (fn. 37) and by Peter de Lekeburn, who appears to
have had rights of common in Nicholas's (fn. 38) wood
and assart, in right of his tenements in Hardwick.
Probably somewhat later, William de Wald granted
to the priory the wood in the forest of Swineshead
which Sir Walter de Swineshead had granted to him, (fn. 39)
and confirmations were made by later members of the
Swineshead family and their tenants (fn. 40) and by two of
their overlords, the Earls of Hereford and Essex. (fn. 41)
In 1279 the priory held 40 acres of arable and 5 acres
of wood, (fn. 42) and at the Dissolution its property was
valued at 30s. a year; (fn. 43) it also obtained 3s. 4d. a year
on an average by the sale of underwood.

Swineshead was within the metes of the king's
forest of Huntingdonshire. (fn. 44) As mentioned above,
Walter de Swineshead was in 1176 fined 2 marks for
trespassing therein. (fn. 45) King John granted the 'forest
of Swineshead' with all foreign rights to Geoffrey
Fitz Piers, Earl of Essex. (fn. 46) In 1279 the wood that
formed part of the demesne of Swineshead manor was
stated to be a league in circumference, while different
free tenants held 42 acres of wood in all. (fn. 47) An
annual forest court called 'Swanimote' was appurtenant to the manor and was usually held in Hardwick
wood. (fn. 48) William de Bohun, afterwards Earl of
Northampton, was granted rights of free warren in
his demesne lands in Swineshead in 1328. (fn. 49)

Plan of Swineshead Church

Church

The church of ST. NICHOLAS
consists of a chancel (23¾ ft. by 13¾ ft.),
nave (42½ ft. by 14¾ ft.), north aisle
with vestry (45½ ft. by 8¼ ft.), south aisle (44 ft. by
8 ft.), west tower (7½ ft. by 7½ ft.) and south porch.
The walls are of coursed rubble with some pebble
rubble, and with stone dressings; and the roofs are
covered with stone slates, tiles and lead.

The church is not mentioned in the Domesday
Survey, 1086, but there was a rector here before
1271. The whole church seems to have been rebuilt
during the 14th century, beginning with the chancel
about 1330, and about the same time the nave with
its south aisle and porch; the north aisle with the
base of a tower at its west end followed about ten
years later, but the proposed tower was almost
immediately abandoned in favour of one at the west
end of the nave. Towards the end of the 15th century
a clearstory was added to the nave, a vestry added at
the east end of the north aisle, with a chamber above it,
and a narrow slip-way communicating with the chancel. At the same time the chancel arch was widened,
rood-stairs built on the south side, and a rood-screen
and loft erected.

The nave roof was repaired in 1706 and in 1841. (fn. 50)
A general restoration seems to have gone on from 1847
to 1853. (fn. 51) The tower and spire were again repaired
in 1907.

The chancel, c. 1330, has, in the east wall, a threelight window with ancient splays and rear-arch but
modern outer jambs, mullions and tracery under a
two-centred head; on either side of the window are
brackets supported on carved heads. The north wall
has two two-light windows with modern jambs and
tracery under two-centred heads; a 14th-century
tomb recess with two-centred arch, cusped and subcusped and having carved spandrels; a late 15thcentury shouldered doorway formed in the recess and
opening into the narrow passage.

The south wall has two windows similar to those
in the north wall, except that the western has retained
its original tracery and some of its painted glass; a
trefoiled piscina formed in the eastern splay of the
easternmost window, and two graduated seats formed
in the inner sill of the same window; a square-headed
low-side window; and a plain doorway with a twocentred head of two continuous chamfered orders.
All the windows have internal jambshafts with carved capitals and
moulded rear-arches. The east gable
has been raised to suit the modern
high-pitched roof.

The chancel arch, c. 1330, has a
large chamfered lower order, and a
much smaller outer order, the former
resting on quaintly carved corbels;
it was originally two-centred, but
has been reset and distorted to span
the full width of the chancel.

The 14th-century nave has a north
arcade, c. 1340, of three bays having
two-centred arches of two chamfered orders. The two eastern arches
rest upon an octagonal column with
moulded capital and base, and
similar semi-octagonal respond shafts.
The second pier is a wall pier, evidently intended as
the south-east pier of a north-west tower, for it has the
springing of an arch on its north side. The western
arch, probably intended as the south arch of the tower,
is similar to the others and rests on similar semioctagonal respond shafts. High up at the extreme
east end of the wall is a shouldered doorway leading
from the rood-loft to the former chamber over the
vestry. The south arcade, c. 1330, has three similar
arches carried on two octagonal columns and similar
responds, all with moulded capitals and bases. At the
extreme east end is the square-headed upper doorway
of the rood-stairs.

The late 14th-century clearstory has on each side
four square-headed two-light windows with very
simple tracery. The contemporary roof has been
much repaired, and bears the inscription 'i.h.w.d.
1706' on its western beam, and the date '1841' on
its eastern beam.

The north aisle, c. 1340, has, in the north wall,
three windows, each of two trefoiled ogee-headed
lights with cusped spandrels under a square head; a
doorway with a two-centred head of two continuous
moulded orders; and a plain rectangular locker. In
the south wall, just east of the arcade, is a small
piscina with projecting basin broken off. (fn. 52) The outer
wall of the western bay, together with the west wall,
is very thick, and was evidently intended as the base
of a tower which, however, was never built. In the
west wall is a 15th-century square-headed two-light
window. The plain pent-roof is probably of late
15th-century date. The late 15th-century eastern
extension of the aisle, which apparently formed a
vestry and chamber over it, has a blocked fireplace in
its north wall; the east wall of both upper and lower
rooms has a 15th-century single-light window. There
is no structural division between it and the aisle.

From the south-east corner a low narrow passage
runs outside the north wall of the chancel, below the
window sill, and communicates, by the doorway in
the tomb recess, with the chancel; it has a modern
brick vault, but a stone roof; and there is a small
quatrefoiled opening in the north wall.

The south aisle, c. 1330, has no east window, but
there is a canopied niche in the east wall, now hidden
by the organ. The south wall has three two-light
windows with flowing tracery under a two-centred
head; a doorway with a two-centred head of two
continuous chamfered orders; and a small piscina in
the inner sill of the easternmost window. In the
west wall is a 15th-century square-headed two-light
window. The original pent-roof has moulded purlins;
on the lead is the inscription 'w. ashling, plumber,
glazier, kimbolton, 1812.'

The south wall of the chancel, the south aisle and
the porch have plain parapets with string-courses
enriched with flowers, ball flowers, faces and a
running stem.

The mid 14th-century tower has a two-centred
tower arch of three chamfered orders all dying into the
walls. The west doorway has a two-centred arch of
one continuous moulded order; it stands under a
shallow porch mostly formed in the thickness of the
wall, having a two-centred outer arch of one continuous moulded order under a weathered and
battlement-moulded gable between two pinnacles, and
having a small niche in the spandrel above the arch. (fn. 53)
The 14th-century oak door has flowing tracery in its
head. The west window is a three-light, but the
mullions and tracery are modern. The ground story
of the tower has been vaulted. In the next stage
there is a single-light window with tracery under a
square head in the west wall; a modern square
opening, on to the nave roof, in the east wall; and
above this opening, slightly to the south, a doorway
with a two-centred head, apparently giving access to
the flat top of a former high-pitched but flat-topped
roof; and plain square-headed single-light windows
in the side walls. The belfry windows are coupled
two-lights with flowing tracery in two-centred heads.
The tower has square buttresses set in from the
angles, terminating below the string-course under the
belfry windows; it is finished with a parapet of
pierced quatrefoils in circles, below which is a moulded
string-course with bold gargoyles at the angles.
Behind the parapet rises an octagonal stone spire with
two tiers of spire-lights on the cardinal faces, the
lower tier being two-lights with tracery under gabled
heads, and the upper tier single-lights. The height
from the ground to the top of the spire is 92 ft. The
stairs are in the south-west corner.

The porch, c. 1330, has a two-centred outer arch
of two chamfered orders, the lower order carried on
semi-octagonal attached shafts with moulded capitals.
Above it is a small ogee-headed niche. The side walls
each have a small square-headed single-light window.
Above the inner doorway is a small niche.

The late 16th-century font has an irregular octagonal
bowl with coarsely moulded undercoving, on a plain
octagonal stem and base.

There are five bells, inscribed (1, 2 and 3) 1629;
(4) Johannes Dier hanc campanam fecit; (5) 1629.
The fourth is a poor bell and the inscription is in late
black-letter; there is a bell with the same inscription
at Everton (Tetworth), Hunts. The other four are
by James Keene of Woodstock (1622–1654). In 1552
there were three bells, (fn. 54) but there were five in 1709. (fn. 55)

The 15th-century oak screen consists of five bays,
the central doorway having an ogee archway with two
tracery panels above it; the side bays have twocentred arches with rich tracery and are subdivided
by a central mullion. The close lower panels are
divided into two by a mullion, and have traceried heads
with some traces of colour decoration, on the south,
but those on the north have been destroyed. The
chancel stalls are nearly all modern, but incorporate
some 16th-century arms and moulded misericords.

On the chancel floor is a slab, perhaps removed
from the tomb recess, with marginal inscription in
Lombardic letters: '+ richard aytrop gist ic[i]
di[ev] [d]e sal[m]e e[y]t [m]erci amen.' There is also
part of a 14th-century coffin-lid with an incised cross.

There are the following monuments: in the
chancel, floor slab to William Islip, d. 1755; and glass
window to the Rev. William Airy, Rector, d. 1874.
In the nave, floor slab to Mary, daughter of William
and Mary Islip, d. 1734;. . . wife of William Islip,
d. 1744 (?). In south aisle, to Samuel Bass, d. 1885.

The older registers are deposited at the Bedford
County Record Office. They are as follows: (i) baptisms, marriages and burials 1550 to 1712; (ii) the
same 1713 to 1755; (iii) the same 1756 to 1812;
(iv) marriages 1754 to 1812.

The church plate (fn. 56) consists of a small Elizabethan
silver cup inscribed 'The Towne of Swineshead,'
no hall-marks; a plated paten.

Advowson

The earliest mention of the advowson of Swineshead occurs in 1279, (fn. 57)
when it was the property of Ralph de
Swineshead. The descent has always followed that
of the manor. The value of the church in 1291 was
£4 13s. 4d. (fn. 58) In 1428 it was taxed at 7 marks, (fn. 59) and
in 1535 the rectory was valued at £13 3s. 2d. (fn. 60)

It is probable that the church underwent repair
towards the end of the 14th century, as Bishop
Buckingham notes a charge against some of the
parishioners of Swineshead that they refused to
contribute towards the fabric of the church, (fn. 61) whilst
in 1398 Pope Boniface granted a relaxation to those
parishioners who contributed regularly to the conservation of the parish church. (fn. 62)

A quaint entry in Bishop Repingdon's memoranda
records how Joan widow of John Annesley, in an early
year of the 15th century, restrained the parishioners
of Swineshead from making offerings to the parish
church on the occasion of her husband's funeral. (fn. 63)

Charity

The parish participates, to the extent
of a fourth part, in the charity founded
by Joseph Neale in 1702 for the parishes
of Dean and Shelton (Beds) (fn. 64) and Swineshead. The
foundation is regulated by a scheme of the Board
of Education of 14 September 1905, and consisted
of 4 acres of land known as Moor Close at Easton
and a farm of 70 acres at Great and Little Catworth.
In compliance with an Order of the Board of Education, dated 11 October 1918, property then belonging
to the foundation in Little Catworth, Easton and
Upper Dean was sold, and the proceeds invested in
£1,315 11s. 6d. War Stock with the Official Trustees.

44. Cartul. Mon. de Rames. (Rolls Ser.),
i, 193. In the year 1300 it is recorded that
King Henry, ancestor of King Edward,
had afforested four groves in Swineshead
which belonged to Bartholomew de Enfield, William son of Warin, Walter
Brian, and the Prior of Huntingdon
(ibid. ii, 305).

52. There was an altar of St. John the
Baptist (1490); a fraternity of the Holy
Trinity also probably had its altar. There
was also a sepulchre light in 1492 (Wills,
Archd. Hunt. Reg. i, 50, 61; Reg. iv, 21).

53. The west doorway and porch are
illustrated in J. K. Colling's Details of
Gothic Architecture, ii, 60, 61.

56. In 1709 the plate consisted of the
silver cup weighing 5 oz. 3 dwts., a pewter
plate, a tin plate, and a pewter flagon.
In 1727 it was the same except that the
tin plate is not mentioned. In 1822
it was the same as in 1727, but there were
two pewter plates—probably one being
the 'tin' plate (Rec. Archd. Hunt.
no. 231, Terriers).